


The Bullet Sent By Silence

by I_Reflect_The_Sun



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band), 데자부 | Deja Vu - Dreamcatcher (Music Video)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Betrayal, Childhood Trauma, Deja Vu inspired me okay, Eurocentric Fantasy, F/F, First Kiss, Minor but still present, Open ended, Out Of Context Scene, Princess Kim Minji | JiU, Rather Emotional, Royal Guard Kim Yoohyeon, There Is Only Your Imagination, there is no backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:27:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29002203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Reflect_The_Sun/pseuds/I_Reflect_The_Sun
Summary: It has been three days since Yoohyeon's betrayal of the Kim family crown. After consorting with the rival Lim family behind the backs of the royal court and her princess, Minji, Yoohyeon has been brought in for questioning; however, her history with Minji makes it hard for the both of them.
Relationships: Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	The Bullet Sent By Silence

  
The drag of boots against carpet follows Yoohyeon through the hall. Such a simple sound. Leather sliding past wool and masterpieces of veined marble, overshadowed by footsteps on either side, heavy and bellicose. They want her to challenge them.

After years of being bested by her, the princesses personal guard, they'll gladly take any opportunity to kick her when she's down. Already she is denied the dignity of walking. Years of being their superior has made mistakes into permission for cruelty.

Yoohyeon can't blame them. Her betrayal of the crown princess, Kim Minji, would be enough to ignite a cruel streak in anyone with a passing attachment to her royal highness. Such is the intensity of her magnetic personality. Not only does she know how to spin orders into spoken music but her vivid sensibilities and kindness endear a majority to her in no time. A more peaceful time would have remembered her as ruler with an eye for smart spending and social improvements. 

How sad that she has been thrust into regency when her father in a sickbed and her country under siege. Ever the worse, how pitiful that one of her oldest friends had been revealed as a traitor.

Head hanging low, Yoohyeon can't look at the mundane opulence of the palace. Years of fragmented memories shared with the princess stain every wall. Chocolate tarts on stairwells, conversations beside portraits, lessons in hidden corners. Picturesque snippets of a life Yoohyeon destroyed. 

A door opens, its creak trailed by whispered echo's. Steps disrupt the silence inside, pulling her along all the while. Her guides loosen their grip so her knees drag against carpet. Yoohyeon lets it happen, head hung so far that her hair brushes the ground. Vivid purple fabric peeks through the dark strands.

This is the great hall, one of a few vital fixtures in her life. A million moments flood her mind, each colored with sunlight and blue roses.

Through the gaps in her hair silver moonlight can be seen, illuminating slices of the room. Once clean floors are strewn in glimmering debris. Sterling plant stems, glass roses bursting with lush petals, pools of molten silver, torn leaves. All turned from nature to man-made sharpness. If she lifts her head, Yoohyeon could see the cracked tile where a cannonball had obliterated the stained glass window on the place's front face. Someone told her the projectile had barely missed the throne.

Her throat tightens. 

Nothing has the right to touch that throne except for Minji.

The hands on her arms let go abruptly so Yoohyeon has to catch herself. Her palms press into damp carpet. The wet patches from last nights storm have yet to be cleaned. How true to form. Minji had spent her resources helping others over fixing the throne room. The delayed confrontation between them betrays the same selfless nature.

How sad. She's spent kindness on a traitor.

"Leave us." Minji's voice has changed since their last meeting. Then Yoohyeon had been gifted with prismatic liveliness. Now her voice is cold and glossy. Strained. Exhaustion eats away at the edges in a way only Yoohyeon would notice. After years at Minji's beck and call, there are times when she notices the exhaustion before Minji does. Noticing now is more an invasion than friendship. 

She can't look up. The footsteps leave without challenge. Her subordinates know Yoohyeon would never lay a hand on her princess. Doors slam closed. They are alone. 

They share the same space. Wind blows through the shattered window, trailing post-rain dampness. Curtains flutter. Yoohyeon won't speak. Bent as she is, she's disconnected from her surroundings. The magnitude of how different everything must be stings. The room she had orbited around for a decade doesn't deserve to be left in ruin-

No, not the room. The room doesn't matter. It never has. It is a set of walls and white columns, nothing more. The difference in Minji's expression will hurt. It already does and she hasn't yet glimpsed her face.

"Look at me."

The wall is built up, clogged in Minji's throat and covered in ice. A mental barricade to hold back tears.

Yoohyeon collects herself, sitting on her knees and carefully pushing back her hair. Eyes on the ground. Deep breath. She does as she's told. 

Nothing could have prepared her for Minji. 

Eyes the shade of warm tea have lost their luster for a glassy, exhausted hue. Hair colored caramel and spun sunlight hangs limp, jeweled combs and pins abandoned. Delicate shoulders are tensed, pulled back for good posture. A thousand tiny changes, each gorgeous and painful. All reflected in a dark, pointed gaze at her. The traitor. 

She speaks thoughtlessly. "Minji-"

"You will call me Jiu."

Yoohyeon can't help it. She flinches harder than if she'd been struck. Harder than she has ever flinched from pain or fear or grief or shame or guilt, because she is feeling all of them at once with the intensity of a magician's flame. In childhood she'd lost a finger to one. That agony is a pinprick compared to this. 

Never has she heard Minji sound so hurt.

She's never been denied permission to use her real name, either. The title of Jiu is meant to be reserved for public, a mantle Minji's family had built over generations. The nation's way to speak of their princess and the way to connect her to a line of Jiu's who preceded her. A title only removed at coronation. Yoohyeon has always been close enough to speak her true name. The privilege now gone, she wishes she'd appreciated the privilege more. _Minji._

_You will call me Jiu._

This is what she deserves. This is her punishment. 

"Jiu." Yoohyeon glances at the ceiling, fighting for composure around the foreign name. "I'm sorry."

"Of course you are." Yoohyeon finally notices the blade tucked beside the dusty ruffles of Minji's dress. An iron blade, passed between queens, with a black lacquer handle. "You traitors are always so apologetic when caught. Being cornered is such a great way to find regret." The layers of her dress are a rosy pink. Grime stains the ragged lower hem. It's the same one from their last meeting.

She searches for words to explain before Minji moves on to facts. Before she loses this spark of bitter familiarity. "It was for you, to keep you safe-"

"I don't care." Another flinch meets the brittle edge of Minji's raised voice. "Tell me when you began correspondence with the Lim family."

Gone like a wisp of smoke. Yoohyeon can only be a stranger now. Its best for both of them.

"Eight months ago. They reached out to me..." Trailing off, she waits for the next question. No use explaining her emotions, they don't matter.

Inquiries arrive rapid fire, all varying shades of obsidian. Penetrating. Yoohyeon lays herself bare, forcing away sentimentality so she won't see Minji cry. She explains how she'd been recruited by the Lim family patriarch to act as a mole under a promise for protection. Out come the details of their agreement, from the unbreakable blood pact to spare the lives of the Kim family to further demands for mercy and patience. The tidbits of rival battle plans she'd picked up, which Yoohyeon had mentioned as hypotheticals to defend against in council meetings, have Minji's eye twitching. She clearly remembers.

On and on Yoohyeon goes. Being able to tell the truth is an unexpected freedom. At a point Minji no longer has to ask questions. Yoohyeon talks about her surprise at the defensive mounted by Minji. She admits to calling upon the kingdom's archmaster of black magic to confirm that the blood pacts had been conducted and sealed properly, while her forearms remain covered. Every scrap of information she'd given away is relayed- and truly, they were scraps with lies piled atop. The words spill on the floor like ink. The moments when she gets too close to emotionality are met with a shift in the blades direction as Minji grips its handle tighter. 

Once her truth is bled dry Minji is exhausted by the weight. Her free hand presses to her stomach, turquoise rings visible. At the ready to catch her princess, the personal guard keeps her concern inconspicuous. 

"Anything else, heathen?" Yoohyeon's eyebrows furrow, not comprehending the insult. 

"...No." There is so much more. So many reasons. Neither want to face the why. It's easier for her to be a specter of ruin. Easier to sit and wait for her punishment. 

Minji stares, face contorted in anguish. A thousand years are added to her visage. Her steps are enameled and oddly distant, coming close and moving away at once. Yoohyeon shuts her eyes, expecting to be struck or lose her head. 

There is a hard yank to the front of her cloak and the tear of fabric. In Minji's retreat, metal clatters against tile. Her eyes follow. Her medals, once over hear heart, are a pool of water. 

Oh.

For the first time since she had sat up, Yoohyeon moves her hands. Both come to cover the hole over her heart. A gold sparrow, a bronze sun, and a silver tree. Innovation, loyalty, honor. 

She has no rights to such titles any longer. Their loss stings. 

The weapon in Minji's hand touches the ground between them, shining bright. In its reflection Yoohyeon sees her own face.

"I can't believe you."

"I can't either." Yoohyeon whispers. They stare at one another, one admiring beauty and the other fighting disgust.

"Nothing more to say? No warnings to impart from your new leader?" Minji spits, all venom and cracking granite. Anger makes her more human, exposes the flaws in her visage that are equally beautiful to Yoohyeon.

"Do..." Words shrivel on her tongue, hands clinging together in her lap. "Do you want this to be easy or honest?" Two options. A truth or a lie. Neither has any idea which will actually be easier. White knuckles on the sword handle loosen.

Minji swallows, conflict in her eyes as she remembers who she is speaking to and the experiences they've shared. "I want honesty."

When Yoohyeon swallows it's as hard as drinking broken glass. "I did it for you." She says plainly, apology evident. "I made my decisions for you, to keep you safe. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from me."

"Don't- don't you dare say I drove you to this- I showed you kindness and loyalty. I fought for you and you think you did this to _protect_ me?" The grip is back to white.

"I did." Yoohyeon can taste tears at the back of her throat. "I sold my loyalty so you would live, win or lose. You drove me to nothing. I made my deals because I wanted to."

Visibly distraught, Minji's free hand comes to cling to the heavy pendant around her neck. The turquoise rosette. A gift from her deceased mother. "So you didn't care whether I was happy or not? You didn't care if I was imprisoned? Whether my people died or my family line ended?"

Yoohyeon's face contorts. "I cared. I was going to help you get away if they won. I had transport ready in the catacombs. You would have been safe and free. We could have taken back the castle one loyalist at a time."

Minji's voice cracks. "You're a fool."

Sinking, Yoohyeon nods.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me. You were family."

Another nod.

"Say something. Speak. Spit your poison, not lies. You can't possibly care for me when you speak of such selfish desires."

Pushing her hair back, Yoohyeon tries to look into Minji's eyes again. There is nothing but guilt in them, visible even through the silver tinged light. Unshed tears glitter along matted lashes, a contrast to a clear voice. "Everything I've done has been because I love you. You are all I have, my princess. I'm sorry."

Minji has begun trembling, head hung low to hide. The hand slides from the pendant up to the side of he neck, a shaking ball of chewed nails and clammy skin. They are both sweating in the dampness. 

The sword lifts again only to be thrown down with a muffled clang against tile. Voice rising, Minji lifts her face again to show the tears trailing down her cheeks. "If you must break my heart, then kill me. Take all I have given you and throw it back. I can't turn away from so many years of friendship the way you can." No more is her voice cold. Now it is filled with emotion that Yoohyeon can't begin to unravel. She turns away, pink dress swirling on her way to the door.

A reckless move. Minji had never cared for her own life as much as she should. 

Yoohyeon stands and for the first time her eyes spark with anger. "Call me a fool all you want. That is what I am. I am a fool who would die a thousand deaths for you. I would sacrifice my blood for you. I would give up every shred of happiness that I have so you could have another safe day and a reason to smile. There are many horrible things that are true about me but I have not turned my back on you. You are the only one I will fight for to my bitterest end." Collecting the sword, she trails after Minji, who has frozen. Her approach inspires a careful glance over her shoulder. Lace eyelashes and sterling tears are framed by hair that flutters in a feathery breeze.

Minji turns around fully only to step back once, twice, until she is pressed against a stone wall. There is real fear in her eyes. 

The sword is dropped again, a deliberate parallel by Yoohyeon.

Standing in tatters with scratches across her cheeks and scares littering her arms, Yoohyeon can only imagine what she must look like. She feels a dozen years younger. The child who pushed a princess out of the road to keep her safe. 

"I'll never hurt you again, Jiu."

The distance between them is feet but the weight of the last three days turns it to centimeters. "Call me-"

Yoohyeon surges forward, steps fast and hands slow. Brushing elbows and shoulders to rest on the sides of a perfect neck. Forward. Lips on lips, Minji's fingers in her hair and around her back, the scent of lavender and human skin and salt. Never before had she given herself permission to dream of kissing the princess yet any subconscious wishes are far surpassed. She isn't floating, they are drowning together, drowning in memories and the past and every contrasting emotion they've stifled for years. Rubble meets marble, granite against silver. Two women, set in their ways yet making allowances for one another. Stones melting after eons of silent friction. 

Now Yoohyeon is crying too, overcome with tears. When they eventually pull apart and condense into their humanity again, they are still clinging to one another. A thumb runs across a soft cheek. Fingers push dark locks behind ears. 

The distance is closed again abruptly. Yoohyeon, no longer leading the call, is mollified under the chill of Minji's silent whims. Hands grip her shirt and pull her closer, tilt her to the side. Suddenly she is a lamb, guided along a softer, sweeter meeting. The sort men sing songs of. Music made into touch. 

It is over too soon. The distance between them is gone, Minji's head hidden against her. She takes a deep breath, smelling grime and old stone. Yoohyeon hugs her gingerly. 

"I love you." Minji whispers into her neck, leaning against her chest in a gesture of trust. "I can't forgive you and I love you."

Anguish sweeps across Yoohyeon, her hold tightening reflexively. "Everything was for you. So you would be safe."

"I still can't forgive you."

A gulp. A nose brushes her neck. "You don't have to. I'll be here no matter what." Yoohyeon whispers, cradling her princess the way she had always longed to.

"Thank y-"

The ground shakes below their feet, rattling the broken window and singing a song of shattered rock. Acrid gunpowder clogs the air as they cling to each other for balance. Then Minji shoves her away, making Yoohyeon stumble. 

They are under attack again.

"You lying scoundrel-"

"No!" Yoohyeon's head shakes hard, falling onto one knee as the impact makes her bones feel momentarily sick. "I had nothing to do with it. They told me nothing of a second wave, I swear. Believe me or not but I have shared all that I know." The desperation in her voice is nauseating, constricting her throat.

Minji stares at her, fists clenched. "How do I know you weren't distracting me?"

"Because I have no backup plan." Does that make sense? Yoohyeon isn't sure. "There is no way out for us. I would never leave you to stand and fight." Eyes shut tight, she prays that Minji knows her well enough to believe it. She always has a backup plan.

"Fine." Passing her, Minji is rushing for the doorway once the swords is firmly in her hand. 

Darting after her, Yoohyeon keeps space between them. Beyond the doors the sound of screaming and battle cries are a distant warning of what is to come. They are already in the halls and seemingly moving slow. Minji reaches for the door handle only to be met with an objection. 

"You can't wield that sword." Yoohyeon's affirmation is uneasy, afraid of further upsetting her beloved.

"I certainly can't walk out unarmed, can I?"

"Minji, I am your sword. Your sworn guard, demoted or not. Let me protect you again."

An uneasy silence passes. Tear stained and sweaty, with their hair tousled and their clothing filthy, they are nothing like they had been days prior. There are no plans. There are new strings binding them. Minji, a princess of gold and silk. Yoohyeon, a guard of leather and wool.

"Okay."

For the first time tonight Minji passes the weapon to Yoohyeon. Their fingers brush. Outside the fighting grows closer. With a weapon in hand and a purpose for it, Yoohyeon becomes efficient once more. The cloak that has weighed her down is taken off and tied manually around Minji's shoulders. Briefly she presses her lips to those of the princess, delicate and fearful. 

Standing between her beloved and those who would take everything away, Yoohyeon opens the door and they slip out into a hall stained in agonizing memory.

**Author's Note:**

> Is there context for this? Absolutely not. I wanted betrayal and conflict and drama, nothing more. I'm a little attached, though, so I might eventually write more.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
